So far, the tactic apparently hasn’t worked. The Cowboys got two personal fouls for hits on Griffin on Sunday, but Griffin said that wasn’t his intention on either of those two plays. Griffin also said he tried to bait Lions defensive back Rashean Mathis into such a penalty in Week Three, but Mathis knew exactly what Griffin was doing and told Griffin it wasn’t going to work.

“He’s a smart player; he didn’t hit me,” Griffin said of Mathis. “I kind of stopped well inside in bounds to try to get him to hit me and he didn’t. He said, ‘I’m not taking that penalty, Griff.’ I said, ‘I got you, man.'”

Still, Griffin said that if he can get inside defensive players’ heads, there might be opportunities for him to turn upfield at the sideline instead of going out of bounds and run right past a defensive player who has started to slow down.

“There will be situations, and that’s why guys don’t want to pull up,” Griffin said. “It’s happened in the past with Michael Vick or someone like that who has run to the sidelines, stopped and then gotten 20 more yards because the guy runs out of bounds trying not to hit the quarterback.”

The question, however, is whether Griffin is putting himself at risk when he does that: Griffin might cut it too close some time and end up with a tackler drilling him at the sideline when he could have run out of bounds safely. The risk of another knee injury isn’t worth the reward of 15 yards.

It is obvious that he does it to try and get a cheap penalty. The league should stop calling late hits for those that are so close. If it is blatantly OB call it otherwise let the defense do their jobs.

QBs, once they establish themselves as runners, should be afforded the protections all runners get. They should not be afforded ‘extra’ protection such that defensive players have to think about not hitting them when they are near the sidelines even when they are in bounds. If they are going to do that for the QBs, they should make them wear flags for defensive players to grab instead of tackling them.

FinFan68 says: It is obvious that he does it to try and get a cheap penalty. The league should stop calling late hits for those that are so close. If it is blatantly OB call it otherwise let the defense do their jobs.

*********

Really? You want to introduce even more subjectivity to the officiating process?

Bush league. It’s tough enough for defenders to play defense, now this arsehole is admitting to using the rules, which already favor the QB, to create even more of an advantage. Even the photo for this article, with Griffin going to the face of a defender…….

Enjoy watching from the couch after a defender decides the personal foul pentalty is worth ending your career jagoff.

The first hit by Church was correctly called a penalty. You can’t dive at the QBs knees as he’s going out of bounds. The second flag shouldn’t have been thrown. Church was being blocked. He put out one hand to ensure Griffin stepped out of bounds. I have a hard time seeing how that was either “late” or unneccessary “roughness”. The way the NFL is headed, the refs should just blow the play dead when the QB gets close to the sideline. No tricking defenders into hitting QBs “late” and no “bait and switch” tactics by QBs who decide to turn it up field. You’re putting defenders in an impossible situation.

Lol what people don’t seem to understand that he’s a football player he doesnt mind taking big hits to get a first down you can’t teach players like him,vick,ap to play the game safer maybe they will once in a while run out of bounds but these guys are never going to slide and just give up on the play it’s just not in there mind set that what got them in the nfl that’s what made them great

I don’t think this is cheap like you guys are saying. Isn’t this pretty much the same thing as drawing a foul in the NBA (and I’m not talking about flopping)? It reminds me of D Wade’s pump fake. On the other hand, Griffin should be more careful and protect his knee rather than putting it at this kind of unnecessary risk.

The fact that he’s willing to talk about it seems like he wants everyone to know how clever he is but by making it public, he has alerted everyone to his tactics and players (and refs for that matter) will adjust accordingly.

From watching the Dallas game, it seemed that the refs had moved the special protection a QB has in the pocket to anywhere on the field. As far as the “mind games”-how long before defensive coordinators tell their players that if the QB is going to play this type of game to accept the penalty and drill him whenever he is close to the sideline.

Then of course there’s the Steve McNair approach: Slow down right as you get to the sideline as if you’re going out of bounds. And then, just as the defender reaches you, quickly turn and bolt right past him or run clean over him since he relaxed like you did.

late hits on the sideline should only be called when the player has fully established themselves out of bounds. i really hate when they call late hit and yet the offensive player hasn’t even put a foot oob yet.

We all know that this is a part of the football game that is unwritten and is not in any playbook. He is more than likely not the first and would not be the last to use this to his teams advantage. But more importantly, to the die-hard skin and griffin fans out there, do you not see what is fundaMENTALLY wrong with this individual?

There’s one thing to be egotistical and have a “ME” attitude (see T.O, Chad Johnson a.k.a. Ocho Cinco), but its another thing to just be boneheaded and actually reveal something that you use to your advantage.

Redskin’s nation, this is your QB! Have fun, see you back at the basement!

It is obvious that he does it to try and get a cheap penalty. The league should stop calling late hits for those that are so close. If it is blatantly OB call it otherwise let the defense do their jobs.
__________________
It’s obvious he “does it to try and get a cheap penalty”. That was the point of the article. The question is what that means. Right now he’s playing within the rules of the sport– much like Cayman Islands account or a tax loophole, he’s using the rules to gain an advantage for himself.

But it doesn’t mean that it’s cheap, or dirty, or illegal. Ideally I don’t think this kind of play is fair to defensive players, but are you doing to do– and I agree that I’d love to see an NFL with more hits, fewer restrictions, and no ticky tack calls, but for now, this is what we have and this is what we’re doing. If you see Griffin trying to get out of bounds as quickly as possible, don’t try to hit him, because it’s going to be a flag. Every time.

I love Griffin, he’s clearly a savvy and intelligent player, but I just don’t think this should be part of the NFL.

That said, it is part of the game, and you can’t blame Griffin for doing whatever it takes to win. Winning is everything, and while it’s a shame to exploit a silly and poorly executed rule in order to come out on top, winning is everything. I’m sure Griffin would be happy if there weren’t these tantalizing regualtory stepping stools to exploit, but this is the NFL we live in. Defensive players, unfortunately, just need to adjust to the new reality.

Point being, it’s a shame, this is happening at all, but Griffin is hardly to be blame, nor should he feel embarrassed about it.

Lol I think the entire nation now hates this guy. It’s kind of depressing honestly. Sure he has a big ego and talks too much, but there are many individuals in the NFL who do this far more, and who do far worse things (drunk driving, etc.), and yet no one hates them. It’s baffling to me that dirty players like Suh have a more positive public opinion about them than Griffin.

There are times when defensive players are getting called for a late hit when the hit comes before the offensive player even has the first foot out of bounds, never mind the fact that the old codger referee hasn’t blown the whistle yet. So much for that whole “play to the whistle” theory. Frankly, I don’t know how a defensive player is supposed to know if the offensive player is in bounds or out of bounds. Are they supposed to look down at the ground to see where the boundary is before the hit?

And for the people who are calling it “cheap”, thats just bitterness. Great coaches are the ones with the deepest understanding of the rules and how they can be used to their advantage. Like the defensive backs who drive receivers out of bounds on sideline catches once they did away with the “force out” rule.

In the read option stance the QB can be treated as a runner, and you can lay him out.

Yet RGIII gets the QB treatment earning 2 late hit penalties against the Cowboys that no RB/WR/TE would get on runs heading out of bounds.

I believe on 1 of the penalties he wasn’t even close the chalk, he was only headed towards the sideline.
____________________
Even as a Redskins fan, I think those were kind of ticky-tack penalties as far as UR goes. Here’s what I saw, looking at it from as disinterested a position as possible. On the first call, Griffin was making a B-line for the sideline Church hit Griffin in bounds (by a few inches), but what between momentum and sloppy technique, they were wll out of bounds before Church threw Griffin to the ground.

The point, I think, would be that if you’re going to hit close to the sideline, “hit” him, don’t “lay the tuckin wood” on him. Defenders need to e bsmart enough to know that if they try to go for a highlight reel tackle close to edge of the field, they’re going to be called. Just be smart and bring your guy down.

On the second play, Griffin clearly was out of bound and Church went for a low hit, reaching for Griffin’s knee. The play would almost certainly have been called in the first place, but the NFL loves it profits, taking a deliberate shot at Griffin’s knees within three feet of the sideline s going to be a call. Think what you want about it, but those are the way the rules are going to be executed.

First: those calling this “cheating” or something don’t understand sports. Someone used the analogy of “drawing a foul” in basketball…it’s really part of the game. And other guys do this kind of thing routinely in games, e.g. WRs actually initiating contact then acting like the defender interfered with them. This is just a well known part of the game. Stop being so naive.

Second: that said, I don’t think RGIII should be tempting fate here. You have the talent to ball out without trying to figure out how to draw a personal foul. I get what you are doing, trying to get the defenders to “think too much” so you can do what you want. That said, just play ball and try to score TDs.

The bigger issue vs. Dallas was not your failure to get personal fouls. It was failure to put the ball in the end zone after driving between the 20s. I recall 3 FGs in a row. If two of those are TDs, the game looks a lot different.

Focus more on red zone offense and less on drawing personal fouls and it’ll be more productive for you and the team.

A better plan would be to learn and practice reading the D better, throwing the ball better, and generally beating a defense through normal football plays, as opposed to letting yourself get creamed a couple times a game.

The penalty for giving him a gentle nudge out of bounds and leveling him are the same. He needs to know this and prepare for the inevitable monster shot that awaits him if he doesn’t stop trying to trick defenders into hitting him.

This absolutely disgusts me. Play the game of football and stop trying to bait the refs, because thats what you’re doing, not baiting the players. You’re admitting that you don’t feel like you can win outright so you’re asking for the referees to step in and give you an advantage. Anytime a player intentionally tries to involve the referees in the game it shows a lack of confidence in their own ability to win. All I hear in this situation is “I know they (the players) really aren’t doing anything wrong, but I’d like to trick the refs into thinking they are so that way I have an unfair advantage”. I hate rooting for injuries, but for this guy… I’d make an exception.

I wonder if these comments will finally get the competition committee to change the hit out of bounds rule with some sort of buffer zone. Some “late hits” are called when a player is hit a foot or two past the inbounds line.

RG3 at present is ranked 33rd overall in QBR. I think he should stop pretending we care anything about what he wants to say or do. Instead he should worry more about his actual performance on the field or complete lack thereof to this point.

Any way this should send a message to defensive players. Make that hit count. When Church hit him, he barely grazed his feet when Grifens feet had not even touched down out of bounds, but it was still 15 yards. Hit him higher so he can’t turn it back in, and knock his coil wire loose. Make him earn that 15 yards.

Bush league. It’s tough enough for defenders to play defense, now this arsehole is admitting to using the rules, which already favor the QB, to create even more of an advantage. Even the photo for this article, with Griffin going to the face of a defender…….
__________________________________

I agree with everything you wrote until the last sentence. That my friend is a stiff arm and completely legal in every level of football down to Pop Warner and Pee Wee all the way to the bigs, as long as he doesn’t grasp it.

That said, this guy is going to get lit up hard core soon.

To “ninerswilldominatelikebefore”….., well played. I almost had to get paper towels to wipe Coke off my monitor.

Redskin’s nation, this is your QB! Have fun, see you back at the basement!

signed, NYG fan.

—————–

I tried getting into the basement but it is currently being occupied by the New York Football Giants.

We’ll have to settle for third.

———————————————

Not a problem, whatever lets you sleep at night. I’ll even give you second in the division if that makes you feel better. Tell you what, let’s revisit this whole standing thing at the end of the season and compare notes when both teams are outside looking in.

You know, for all the absurd policies and rules Dan Snyder forces on the fan base, you’d think by now he puts a gag order on his QB. These daily/weekly press conferences should have been put to an end in the offseason. What a constant distraction that has now turned their season into a circus/debacle.

I also think the Sanford & Son regime will come to an end after the season.

I want you to win on Sunday, against the Bears. So, do us all a favor and quit talking! You’re not a glorified running back, are you? Quit running down the sideline, start throwing the ball and take out Chicago!

When you have a winning record, then you can start taking again. If you must…

Is this any worse or unsportsmanlike than Tom Brady telling the ref to throw the flag whenever he’s touched, which is a strategy that clearly has worked for him?
________________________

No, Brady does not call for a flag “whenever he is touched”. I have seen him take numerous hits in games where all he does is bounce up and go on to the next play. I suppose its easier to hate him if you make up things like this though.

Yep, and the first time he takes off upfield for an extra 20 yards will the time right before he gets smoked on the sideline, the next time. Pretty sure the defenders are not going to be happy about that move. Stupid, stupid stupid.

This guy is nothing more then a diva. The Redskins ship is tied to him for years to come. He will never be an elite NFL QB. If he wants to go back to running let him. That means he will only play 13 games a season.

It will be interesting to see how the remainder of this season plays out. If the Skins go 4-12 or 6-10, do they fire Shanahan? What coach is going to want to come in and have to deal with RG3 and all his drama. He has proven with these comments he doesn’t have the desire to run a “pro-style” offense and be a pocket passer. Last I checked there aren’t many coaches that are going to want to change their entire offense for a QB.

He’s been doing it since he came in the league. Why do the refs kiss his ass more than the media does? Watch him scream like an idiot when the ref does not throw a flag on a CLEAN hit. I wanna see an article written on the intentional grounding that never gets called on him.

Players try to bait other players into making penalties all the time. If you are unaware of that fact then what game have you been watching on Sundays. RG3 just said what not only he does but every football player tries to do or has done from time to time.